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W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Am Stein-vis-a-vis Andreas Staier, Christine Schornsheim (Stein-vis-a-vis) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 30/Aug/2017 ] Nearly 80 years after the invention of the fortepiano, the harpsichord was by no means relegated to antique status. On the contrary, the two instruments cohabited throughout the 18th century, to the point where several makers strove to combine them... |
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W. A. MOZART
Sonatas, Variations and a Fantasy Andreas Staier (pianoforte) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 1/Aug/2012 ] Released for the first time in 2003 and 2005, this two-CD set combines two Mozart recordings in which Andreas Staier raises the questions of ornamentation and improvisation with a hefty dose of impishness in his interpretative options (as in 'his'... |
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GIOVANNI ANTONIO PANDOLFI
Complete Violin Sonatas Andrew Manze (violin) Richard Egarr (keyboard) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/Sep/2009 ] "Strongly recommended." - Gramophone Magazine Early Music Award (1999) |
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BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis Op 123 Rosa Mannion (sop) Birgit Remmert (alto) James Taylor (tenor) Cornelius Hauptmann (bass) / La Chapelle Royale / Champs-Elysees / Philippe Herreweghe [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/May/2010 ] 'Philippe Herreweghe has the measure of this stubborn masterpiece...No-one has ever got it quite right - until now.' - Classic CD |
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FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Mass in A flat D.678 (with Mendelssohn - Psalm 42) Anna Korondi (soprano) Anke Vondung (mezzo-soprano) Andreas Karasiak (tenor) / RIAS-Kammerchor / Orchestre des Champs elysaes / Herreweghe [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 10/Aug/2018 ] The Mass in A flat is one of the most lyrical that Schubert composed. It is also one of the most ambitious (Schubert noted at the top of his manuscript 'missa solemnis'), in terms of its instrumental forces, as well as the number and arrangement of... |
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KRIEGER / HAMMERSCHMID / DEDEKIND / ALBERT / ERLEBACH / KINDERMANN
German Baroque Lieder Annette Dasch (soprano) / Members of Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/May/2011 ] "Annette Dasch is a young German soprano who is picking off the formative stage-posts of professional opportunity with a special interest in period performance. This surprisingly esoteric debut disc of 17th century German song draws on this penchant... |
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ANONYMOUS
La Bele Marie (Songs of the Virgin from 13th Century France) Anonymous 4 [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 12/Jun/2015 ] "Anonymous 4 cast a spell difficult to resist."-The Times, London |
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LANDINI
The Second Circle Anonymous 4 [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/Jan/2014 ] 1001 Classical recordings to hear before you die (pre 1700) - "Anonymous 4 sing with their trademark celestial tone, their voices blending and intertwining like choirs of seraphim." - EARLY MUSIC AMERICA |
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BACH
Solo Cantatas Bernarda Fink (mezzo-soprano), Freiburger Barockorchester, dir. P. Müllejans [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 17/Jun/2016 ] "Fink's velvet-timbred mezzo evokes to perfection the consoling sentiment of Bach's alto arias. Vergnügte Ruh has long been a favourite of star mezzos and countertenors, but Fink sings with an artless humility, with eloquent yet never overemphatic... |
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ROBERT SCHUMANN
Schumann: Frauenliebe und Leben Bernarda Fink (mezzo) Roger Vignoles (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/Mar/2008 ] Editor's Choice - Gramophone Magazine (July 2002) |
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ANTONIN DVORAK
Dvorak: Lieder (Songs) Bernarda Fink (mezzo-soprano) Roger Vignoles (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 12/Jun/2015 ] "Songs and performances are good company, each with an element of novelty" Editor's Choice Gramophone Magazine July 2004 |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem op.45 [A German Requiem] Christiane Oelze / Gerald Finley / La Chapelle Royale / Collegium Vocale Gent / Orchestre des Champs-AlysACes / Philippe Herreweghe [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 25/Mar/2008 ] 'Herreweghe's innate sense of Brahms's musical lines is evident everywhere as he sculpts this works. Herreweghe's combined choirs respond magnificently to his direction.' - Stereophile |
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BERLIOZ
Les Nuits D'ete, Op. 7 / Herminie - Scene lyrique (cantata) Brigitte Balleys & Mireille Delunsch / Orchestre des Champs Elysees / Philippe Herreweghe [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/Sep/2009 ] Brigitte Balleys & Mireille Delunsch |
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BEETHOVEN / BRAHMS / CHOPIN / SCHUBERT / SCHUMANN
"Romantic" (10 CD boxset) Brigitte Engerer, Bernarda Fink, Werner Güra, Philippe Herreweghe, Régis Pasquier, Roland Pidoux, Jean-Claude Pennetier, Alain Planès, and many more [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 10 CD Box Set - released 25/Oct/2011 ] An amazing 10-CD bargain boxes from Harmonia Mundi of classic recordings from their catalogue. We know from experience that these will sell out quickly: incredible price, limited edition, while stocks last. |
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SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Works for two pianos and four-hand piano Brigitte Engerer, Oleg Maisenberg (pianos) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 10/Aug/2018 ] "Engerer and Maisenberg are wholly successful." - Gramophone |
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BUXTEHUDE
Sacred Cantatas (Incls 'Herzlich lieb hab ich Dich, o Herr') Cantus Colln / Konrad Junghanel [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 1/Sep/2008 ] Buxtehude's major contribution to mid-baroque German sacred music lay in the Abendmusiken, the evening concerts organized before Christmas by the organist of Lübeck outside the context of his official duties. While most contemporary cantors had to... |
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J. S. BACH
Bach: Mass in B minor Cantus Colln; Konrad Junghanel - conductor [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 20/May/2011 ] "this is a meticulous, at times, breathtaking performance which will delight the connoisseur." - The Observer (1 Feb 2004) |
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HEINRICH SCHUTZ
Psalmen Davids Cantus Colln / Concerto Palatino, Konrad Junghanel (cond) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 10/Jul/2012 ] "Published in 1619, the young Schutz's landmark settings revel in the musical riches of Gabrieli's Venice - wonderfully brought to life by Junghanel's forces." (BBC Music) |
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GYORGY LIGETI
Ligeti: Lux Aeterna Cappella Amsterdam, Suzanne van Els (viola) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 17/Jun/2016 ] MARBECKS STAFF PICK: CD OF THE YEAR 2009 - "In this performance [of Lux aeterna] by the astoundingly good Capella Amsterdam it sounds more meditative and less apocalyptic than it did [in Kubrick's 2001], but no less haunting." Daily Telegraph |
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VICTORIA
Et Jesum: Motets for Solo Voice Carlos Mena (countertenor), Juan Carlos Rivera (lute, vihuela) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD - released 20/May/2010 ] "A fresh and surprising look at one of the Renaissance's most distinguished figures" Editor's Choice Gramophone Magazine July 2004 |